NEWS GUIDE: The crisis in Yemen as president flees Aden home

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemen's embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has fled his palace in the southern city of Aden as Shiite rebels are closing in on the country's third-largest city.

The rebels, known as Houthis and reportedly supported by Iran, offered a bounty for Hadi's capture on Wednesday and arrested his defense minister. They have been tightening their grip on the country since they captured the capital Sanaa, last September, and several key northern provinces.

The rebels' advance could plunge the Arab world's poorest country into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors. Hadi, a close U.S. ally, has appealed to Gulf Arab allies and the United Nations to intervene militarily to stop the rebels' advance.

Meanwhile, al-Qaida's branch in Yemen has taken advantage of the power struggle, moving in the country's lawless hinterlands. And a new group of militants inspired by the Islamic State group has claimed major attacks, adding another layer to the turmoil.

Here's a look at what's happening in Yemen and why it is important globally:

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NEWS GUIDE: The crisis in Yemen as president flees Aden home

Boys gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, June 18, 2015. A series of Islamic State-claimed bombings in Yemen's rebel-controlled capital killed several people and wounded dozens Wednesday night amid the country's raging war. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Smoke rises after a Saudi-led airstrike hit a site believed to be one of the largest weapons depot on the outskirts of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes hit a convoy of civilians fleeing fighting in southern Yemen early Wednesday, killing tens of people in an attack among the deadliest of the 3-month-old air campaign, medics said. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Yemenis inspect a destroyed building in Aden's suburbs on June 24, 2015 after rebel forces and loyalist fighters were locked in fierce fighting. Warplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition have launched heavy raids against rebel positions in seven Yemeni provinces, according to witnesses and military sources. AFP PHOTO / SALEH AL-OBEIDI (Photo credit should read SALEH AL-OBEIDI/AFP/Getty Images)

Smoke rises after a Saudi-led airstrike hit a site where many believe the largest weapons cache in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, is located on Monday, April 20, 2015. Powerful explosions rocked the Yemeni capital early Monday morning amid the strike, shattering windows and waking residents up. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Smoke billows from the Faj Attan Hill following a reported airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition on an army arms depot, now under Huthi rebel control, on April 20, 2015, in Sanaa. The UN this week called the humanitarian crisis in Yemen one of the 'largest and most complex in the world'. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 30: Shiite Houthis use anti-aircraft guns as the Saudi-led coalition strikes hit Houthi targets in Sanaa as part of the 'Decisive Storm' operation in Sanaa, Yemen on March 30, 2015. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 30: Shiite Houthis use anti-aircraft guns as the Saudi-led coalition strikes hit Houthi targets in Sanaa as part of the 'Decisive Storm' operation in Sanaa, Yemen on March 30, 2015. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

A Pakistani woman (R), evacuated from Yemen, is greeted by relative on her arrival in Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad on March 30, 2015. Pakistan evacuated more than 500 of its citizens from Yemen by jumbo jet and sent a naval frigate to rescue others stranded in the war-torn country, officials said. AFP PHOTO / FAROOQ NAEEM (Photo credit should read FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 30: Houthis attack Saudi-led coalition with anti-aircraft weapons after coalition carried out airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen on March 30, 2015 as part of the 'Decisive Storm' operation against the Houthis. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 30: Houthis attack Saudi-led coalition with anti-aircraft weapons after coalition carried out airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen on March 30, 2015 as part of the 'Decisive Storm' operation against the Houthis. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 27: Smoke rises after Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen on March 30, 2015 as part of the 'Decisive Storm' operation against the Houthis. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 27: Smoke rises after Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen on March 30, 2015 as part of the 'Decisive Storm' operation against the Houthis. (Photo by Sinan Yiter/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa Airport, Yemen, Thursday, March 26, 2015. Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes Thursday targeting military installations in Yemen held by Shiite rebels who were taking over a key port city in the country's south and had driven the embattled president to flee by sea, security officials said. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 26: Yemeni men search for survivors in rubble of buildings after airstrikes of a 10-member coalition of Gulf countries in Yemeni capital Sanaa on March 26, 2015. Saudi Arabia has launched military operations in Yemen, as part of a coalition of over 10 countries in response to a direct request from the legitimate government of Yemen, against the Shiite Houthi group, which seized capital Sanaa and several provinces. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa Airport, Yemen, Thursday, March 26, 2015. Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes Thursday targeting military installations in Yemen held by Shiite rebels who were taking over a key port city in the country's south and had driven the embattled president to flee by sea, security officials said. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa Airport, Yemen, Thursday, March 26, 2015. Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes Thursday targeting military installations in Yemen held by Shiite rebels who were taking over a key port city in the country's south and had driven the embattled president to flee by sea, security officials said. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

A Houthi Shiite fighter stand guard as people search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by Saudi airstrikes near Sanaa Airport, Yemen, Thursday, March 26, 2015. Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes Thursday targeting military installations in Yemen held by Shiite rebels who were taking over a key port city in the country's south and had driven the embattled president to flee by sea, security officials said. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

A Yemeni man sits in the rubble of his house in the Yemeni capital on March 26, 2015 after Saudi air strikes against Huthi rebels near Sanaa Airport. Saudi Arabia launched a military operation overnight in Yemen by a regional coalition to defend the government of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as the country teeters on the brink of civil war. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Yemeni civilians and security forces stand at the site of a Saudi air strike against Huthi rebels near Sanaa Airport on March 26, 2015, which killed at least 13 people. Saudi warplanes bombed Huthi rebels in Yemen, launching a military intervention by a 10-nation coalition to prevent the fall of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 22: A group of people hold banners as they march during a demonstration against Shiite Houthi movement that interfere to the country's government, at Gamal Abdul Nasser Street in Taizz, Yemen on March 22, 2015. (Photo by Waddah Abdulqade Abdulqawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Yemenis drive in a car loaded with their belongings in the Yemeni capital as they move to a safer place on March 26, 2015 after Saudi air strikes against Huthi rebels near Sanaa Airport. Saudi Arabia launched a military operation overnight in Yemen by a regional coalition to defend the government of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as the country teeters on the brink of civil war. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012 file photo,Yemen's Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi gestures as he enters a polling center to cast his vote in Sanaa. Yemen's embattled president fled his palace in Aden for an undisclosed location Wednesday as Shiite rebels offered cash bounty for his capture and arrested his defense minister. Hadi left just hours after the rebels' own television station said they seized an air base where U.S. troops and Europeans advised the country in its fight against al-Qaida militants. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)

Houthi Shiite fighters, background, patrol as their comrades attend the funeral procession of victims who were killed from triple suicide bombings that hit a pair of mosques in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

In this Tuesday, March 17, 2015 photo, Abdul-Lateef al-Sayed al-Bafqeeh, leader and founder of the government-backed militia formally known as the ÂPopular Committees,Âlistens to a reporter during an interview with The Associated Press in southern Abyan province, Yemen. Al-Bafqeeh and his militiamen joined the military in its campaign to expel al-Qaida from Abyan, ending a 14-month occupation by the terror group in 2012. Now he and his men will be the ones thrown into the thick of battle in YemenÂs seemingly imminent civil war, fighting alongside fellow southern Yemenis loyal to embattled president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against northern forces loyal to the nationÂs ousted leader and his Iranian-backed Shiite rebel allies. (AP Photo/Yassir Hassan)

Houthi Shiite mourners attend the funeral procession of victims who were killed from a triple suicide bombing attack on mosques in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 25, 2015. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

FILE - In this Friday, March 20, 2015 file photo, militiamen loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ride on an army vehicle on a street in Aden, Yemen. YemenÂs Shiite rebels, backed by supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have seized the third-largest city after capturing the capital Sanaa in September, effectively splitting the country in half and hindering U.S. efforts to combat a powerful local al-Qaida affiliate. Hadi, a close U.S. ally, fled house arrest in Sanaa last month and has set up a base in the port city of Aden, the former capital of the once-independent south. (AP Photo/Yassir Hassan, FIle)

FILE - In this Thursday, March 19, 2015 file photo, a Yemeni man wears a gas mask that he looted from a base that belonged to police special forces loyal to ousted longtime autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as he walks around outside the base in Aden, Yemen. Militiamen loyal to the current President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ride on armored vehicles in the background. (AP Photo/Hamza Hendawi, File)

A militiaman loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi talks to a driver after he looted a material from a base that belonged to police special forces loyal to ousted longtime autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, March 19, 2015. Forces loyal to former President Saleh stormed the international airport in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday. Later, the pro-Hadi troops and militiamen completely retook the airport. They then stormed the nearby base of the pro-Saleh police special forces. (AP Photo/Hamza Hendawi)

Militiamen loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ride on a tank on a street in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, March 19, 2015. Forces loyal to Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed the international airport in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday, triggering an intense, hours-long gunbattle with the forces of the current president Hadi that intensified a monthslong struggle for power threatening to fragment the nation. (AP Photo/Hamza Hendawi)

Militiamen loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ride on a tank on a street in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, March 19, 2015. A woman on the tank holds a representation of the old South Yemen flag that was used when southern Yemen was an independent state until 1990. Forces loyal to Yemen's former President Ali Abdullah Saleh stormed the international airport in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday, triggering an intense, hours-long gunbattle with the forces of the current President Hadi that intensified a monthslong struggle for power threatening to fragment the nation. (AP Photo/Hamza Hendawi)

AP10ThingsToSee - Supporters of Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the son of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, gather at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier during a demonstration demanding presidential elections be held and the younger Saleh run for the office, in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, March 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

Yemeni police cadets loyal to the Huthi militia which controls Sanaa march during a group funeral for the victims of last week's multiple suicide bombings that targeted Huthi mosques in the Yemeni capital, on March 25, 2015. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claimed responsibility for the March 20 attacks on two mosques in Sanaa that killed at least 142 people. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

ADEN, YEMEN - MARCH 25: Members of Yemen's General People's Committee deploy at mechanized unit in Aden, Yemen on March 25, 2015. (Photo by Wael Shaif Thabet/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Yemeni police cadets loyal to the Huthi militia which controls Sanaa march during a group funeral for the victims of last week's multiple suicide bombings that targeted Huthi mosques in the Yemeni capital, on March 25, 2015. The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group claimed responsibility for the March 20 attacks on two mosques in Sanaa that killed at least 142 people. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED HUWAIS (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images)

ADEN, YEMEN - MARCH 24: A group of Yemeni men who want to return to military stage a demonstration outside the Military Command in Aden, Yemen on March 24, 2015. (Photo by Wail Shaif Thabet/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

In this photo taken on Friday, March 20, 2015, militiamen loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ride on an army vehicle on a street in Aden, Yemen. The country's Shiite rebels issued a call to arms Saturday to battle forces loyal to the embattled President Hadi, as U.S. troops evacuated a southern air base over al-Qaida militants seizing a nearby city, authorities said. (AP Photo/Yassir Hassan)

A Yemeni man shows off a helmet and a flak jacket he looted from a base that belonged to police special forces loyal to ousted longtime autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as he stands on a street outside the base in Aden, Yemen, Thursday, March 19, 2015. Forces loyal to former President Saleh stormed the international airport in the southern port city of Aden on Thursday. Later, the troops and militiamen loyal to the current President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi completely retook the airport. They then stormed the nearby base of the pro-Saleh police special forces. (AP Photo/Hamza Hendawi)

TAIZZ, YEMEN - MARCH 23: Police intervene to the demonstrators during a demonstration against Shiite Houthi movement that interfere to the country's government, in Taizz, Yemen on March 23, 2015. (Photo by Waddah Abdulqade Abdulqawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

SANAA, YEMEN - MARCH 22: A group of people hold banners as they march during a demonstration against Shiite Houthi movement that interfere to the country's government, at Gamal Abdul Nasser Street in Taizz, Yemen on March 22, 2015. (Photo by Waddah Abdulqade Abdulqawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

TAIZZ, YEMEN - MARCH 23: People hold flags and banners during a demonstration against Shiite Houthi movement that interfere to the country's government, in Taizz, Yemen on March 23, 2015. (Photo by Waddah Abdulqade Abdulqawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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Hadi fled his palace in Aden for an undisclosed location Wednesday as the Houthis offered some $100,000 for his capture and arrested Defense Minister Maj.-Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi.

Presidential officials said Hadi was in an operations room overseeing his forces' response to the rebel push on Aden, which Hadi had declared a temporary capital. They declined to say where the facility was located and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Just hours earlier, the Houthis seized an air base where U.S. troops and Europeans advised the country in its fight against al-Qaida militants. The base is only 60 kilometers (35 miles) from Aden. A rebel TV station aired images of rebels and soldiers roaming around the base.

Hadi still enjoys international legitimacy, and the U.N. Security Council has sanctioned two top leaders of the Houthis and their ally, Hadi's predecessor and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

As a southerner, Hadi enjoys widespread support in the south, which could help him to repel the Houthis, but also raises the specter of a repeat of the 1994 north-south civil war.

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WHO ARE THE HOUTHIS?

The Houthis are followers of the Shiite Zaydi sect, the faith of around a third of Yemen's population. They waged a six-year insurgency against Saleh from their strongholds in the north along the Saudi border that ended in 2010, but now they have joined forces with Saleh, the country's former longtime autocrat.

Their opponents view them as a proxy of Shiite Iran, charges they deny. The group is hostile to the United States but has also vowed to eradicate al-Qaida. The Houthis now control nine of Yemen's 21 provinces, but it's unlikely they will be able to seize control of the whole country, much less govern it.

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SALEH'S HIDDEN HAND

Saleh, who dominated the country for more than three decades, agreed to step down in 2012 following an Arab Spring-inspired uprising and handed over power to Hadi. But Hadi says his predecessor has undermined him at every turn through loyalists in the government and the security forces. The U.N. Security Council has also charged Saleh with hindering the country's democratic transition.

Saleh has vowed to chase Hadi out of the country, and his supporters tried but failed to take over the airport in Aden last week and dropped bombs near the city's presidential palace.

Saleh is a Zaydi and thus far his alliance with the Houthis has held, but that could change if they no longer face a shared enemy in Hadi.

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AL-QAIDA EXPLOITS CHAOS

Hadi was a strong U.S. ally in the campaign against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which claimed the January attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and has been linked to some of the most serious attempted attacks on the U.S. homeland since 9/11.

Yemen's latest turmoil has helped the group to rally Sunni tribes against the Houthis. Yemen's splintered army, which had received considerable U.S. aid and assistance, is now embroiled in the Houthi conflict and torn between competing commanders rather than focused on counterterrorism.

U.S. drones have continued to target the top al-Qaida leaders, but the campaign has suffered from Hadi's absence and the closure of the U.S. Embassy. Last week, U.S. military advisers were withdrawn from a southern base as al-Qaida militants seized a nearby city.

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ISLAMIC STATE SUPPORTERS SOW SECTARIANISM

Although Yemen's conflict pits Shiite rebels against a Sunni-led government it has until now had more to do with power politics than sectarianism, with Sunnis and Shiites fighting alongside one another on some fronts.

That could change with the emergence of a new group inspired by the Islamic State, which views Shiites as apostates and has vowed to carry out more mass killings of civilians.

It's not clear how closely linked the Yemeni militants are to the IS group's central leadership. But attacks targeting Zaydis risk igniting a full-blown sectarian conflict like the one underway in Syria and Iraq, and could further complicate the already daunting task of trying to stitch Yemen back together.

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US COUNTERRORISM STRATEGY IN YEMEN COLLAPSES?

The U.S. counterterrorism strategy in Yemen has all but collapsed as the country once hailed by President Barack Obama as a model for fighting extremism descends into chaos.

Operations were scaled back dramatically amid the fall of Hadi's American-backed government and the evacuation of some 100 U.S. personnel, including Special Forces commandos, from the base in the south. Britain also evacuated soldiers.

Now, virtually all of the Yemeni troops that had worked with the U.S. are engaged on one side or another in the turmoil.

CIA drone strikes will continue, U.S. officials have said, but there will be fewer of them.